Sectional cabinet

ABSTRACT

A sectional cabinet is easily detachably assembled from a rack, and a plurality of side panels, back panels, drawers, and door panels. The rack is formed from a plurality of vertical metal posts and horizontal shelves that are connected to the vertical posts via a plurality of connecting structures. The sectional cabinet may be horizontally and vertically extended as desired. The side panels and the back panels close two lateral sides and a rear side of the rack to define an internal space for the rack. And, the door panels and the drawers are mounted to a front side of the rack to define closed spaces adapted to store various things therein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a sectional cabinet, and moreparticularly to a sectional cabinet that combines a sectional metal rackand wooden side panels, back panels, door panels, and drawers normallyused on a wooden cabinet, enabling the sectional cabinet to behorizontally extended as desired and show a high quality appearance.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Generally, furniture may be divided into wooden furniture and sectionalmetal furniture according to the material used to manufacture thefurniture. The wooden furniture normally presents an appearance moreelegant than that of the sectional metal furniture that is usually inthe form of a rack.

Most people choose wooden furniture for its elegant appearance andquality touch. The metal rack type sectional furniture is alsoincomparable to the wooden furniture in that the wooden furniture isable to provide many different closed spaces to better protect thingsstored therein against dust. Therefore, most of currently availablecabinets are made of wooden material.

The currently available sectional metal rack includes vertical postsformed from metal tubular members and horizontal shelves formed frommetal meshes. This type of sectional rack can be easily assembled anddisassembled by a user without using any tool. Moreover, the sectionalrack may be freely horizontally extended to any desired configurationand dimensions to enable convenient use in different spaces. However,the shelves of such sectional rack are open and subject to dust.Moreover, people tend to position all kinds of things on the open rackto result in a disorder scene and make the rack less valuable at leastfrom an appearance thereof. Therefore, the conventional sectional metalrack can hardly achieve the same function and value as the woodencabinets.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a sectionalcabinet that combines wooden cabinet and metal rack to allow horizontalextension of the sectional cabinet and show high quality and elegantfeeling.

To achieve the above and other objects, the sectional cabinet of thepresent invention mainly includes a rack, and a plurality of wallpanels, drawers, and door panels. The rack is formed from a plurality ofvertical metal posts and horizontal shelves that are connected to thevertical posts via a plurality of connecting structures. The wall panelsinclude side panels for mounting to two lateral sides of the rack, andback panels for closing a rear side of the rack, so as to define aninternal space for the rack. And, the door panels and the drawers aremounted to a front side of the rack to define closed spaces adapted tostore various things therein.

In the sectional cabinet of the present invention, the rack formed fromthe vertical metal posts and the horizontal shelves serves as a skeletonof the sectional cabinet. Each of the shelves includes a flat surfacepanel to exactly divide the internal space of the rack into an upper anda lower part.

The positions of the door panels and the drawers on the sectionalcabinet of the present invention are freely changeable to create morechanges in the appearance of the sectional cabinet.

In the sectional cabinet of the present invention, all constitutiveelements thereof are assembled together by way of hooking. Therefore, auser may easily assemble and disassemble the sectional cabinet accordingto actual need.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The structure and the technical means adopted by the present inventionto achieve the above and other objects can be best understood byreferring to the following detailed description of the preferredembodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein

FIG. 1 is an assembled perspective view of a sectional cabinet accordingto an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the sectional cabinet of FIG.1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a connecting structure for thesectional cabinet of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the assembling of a horizontalshelf to a vertical post of the sectional cabinet of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is an assembled sectional view of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing the connection of sidepanels to vertical posts of the sectional cabinet of the presentinvention;

FIG. 6-1 is an enlarged view of the circled area of FIG. 6;

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view showing the connection of a backpanel to vertical posts of the sectional cabinet of the presentinvention;

FIG. 7-1 is an enlarged view of the circled area of FIG. 7;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the assembling of a door hinge to avertical post of the sectional cabinet of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of the door hinge of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the mounting of a space-dividingboard in the sectional cabinet of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a supporting member for supporting thespace-dividing board of the present invention;

FIG. 12 shows the assembling of drawers to a rack of the sectionalcabinet of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a sectional view showing the connection of a rail for thedrawer to a vertical post of the sectional cabinet of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 14 is an assembled perspective view showing the mounting of skirtboards to the vertical posts of the sectional cabinet of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Please refer to FIGS. 1 and 2 that are assembled and explodedperspective views, respectively, of a sectional cabinet according to anembodiment of the present invention. As shown, the sectional cabinet ofthe present invention mainly includes a rack 10 assembled from aplurality of vertical metal posts 11 and a plurality of horizontalshelves 12, and other constitutive elements, including a plurality ofwall panels, drawers 40, and door panels 50. The wall panels include aplurality of side panels 20 and back panels 30. The side panels 20 aremounted to two lateral sides of the rack 10 and are therefore dividedinto left and right side panels 20. The back panels 30 are mounted to arear side of the rack 10, the door panels 50 are mounted to a front sideof the rack 10, and the drawers 40 are arranged on the rack 10 to definesome closed spaces on the sectional cabinet.

Referring to FIGS. 3 to 5, the horizontal shelves 12 are connected tothe vertical metal posts 11 of the rack 10 via connecting structures 13.Each of the connecting structures 13 serves to connect one corner of thehorizontal shelf 12 to the vertical post 11. The connecting structure 13includes a portion adapted to hook on the vertical post 11 and anotherportion adapted to support the horizontal shelf 12, so as to connect thevertical post 11 to the horizontal shelf 12.

More specifically, according to an embodiment of the present invention,the connecting structure 13 includes a connecting member 14 and a pad 15attached to the connecting member 14. Each of the vertical posts 11 isprovided at two lateral sides with two rows of hook eyes 111, on whichan upper and a lower hook 141, 142 provided on the connecting member 14of the connecting structure 13 may be hooked to locate the connectingmember 14 in place on the vertical post 11. A portion of the connectingmember 14 opposite to the upper and lower hooks 141, 142 is exposed fromthe hook eyes 111 of the vertical post 11 to provide a guide rail 143,to which the horizontal shelf 12 can be attached. The pad block 15includes a flat side for fitly attaching to the vertical post 11, and anoutward and downward inclined side opposite to the flat side. The pad 15is provided with an upper and a lower opening 152, 153, via which theupper and the lower hook 141, 142 of the connecting member 14 areextended into the hook eyes 111 on the vertical post 11, such that thepad 15 is attached to the connecting member 14.

An outer cover 16 is provided at each corner of the horizontal shelf 12.The outer cover 16 includes an open outer side and an open bottom. Arail-engaging portion 161 is formed in the outer cover 16. One side ofthe rail-engaging portion 161 in contact with the pad 15 is an inclinedsurface 162 corresponding to the inclined side 151 of the pad 15. Therail-engaging portion 161 engages with the guide rail 143 of theconnecting member 14 to normally pull the connecting member 14 outwardrelative to the vertical post 11, as shown in FIG. 5, so that the outercover 16, the connecting member 14, the pad 15, and the vertical post 11are firmly connected to one another. When the outer covers 16 at allfour corners of the horizontal shelves 12 are connected to correspondingconnecting members 14, pads 15, and vertical posts 11, the horizontalshelf 12 is assembled to four vertical posts 11 to form the rack 10.

Each of the horizontal shelves 12 includes a flat surface panel attachedto a top of a metal frame 121. The surface panel of the shelf 12 ispreferably made of a wooden material. In addition to form part of therack 10 of the sectional cabinet of the present invention, thehorizontal shelves 12 also serve to divide an internal space of the rack10 into an upper and a lower part.

Referring to FIGS. 6 and 6-1, the side panel 20 includes a surface panel21 and an upper framing member 22 connected to an upper edge of thesurface panel 21. In the case the sectional cabinet is relatively high,the side panel 20 may include an upper and a lower surface panel 21, anupper framing member 22 connected to an upper edge of the upper surfacepanel 21, and an intermediate framing member 23 located between theupper and the lower surface panel 21.

The side panel 20 is mounted to and between two vertical posts 11 at thesame side of the rack 10 preferably by way of hooking. The upper framingmember 22 is provided at a lower surface with a channel 221 forreceiving the upper edge of the upper surface panel 21 therein. Theintermediate framing member 23 is provided at upper and lower surfaceswith two channels 231 (only the channel 231 at the upper surface isshown in the drawings) for respectively receiving a lower edge of theupper surface panel 21 and an upper edge of the lower surface panel 21therein. Two lateral ends of the upper framing member 22 are adapted todownward insert into upper ends of the two vertical posts 11 supportingthe side panel 20. The two vertical posts 11 supporting the side panel20 are provided on respective side surface facing toward the side panel20 with a plurality of hook openings 112 for hooking members 24 toseparately hook thereat. The intermediate framing member 23 is alsoprovided at two lateral ends with engaging pins 232 that are adapted toengage with the hooking members 24. The upper and the lower surfacepanel 21 are also provided at two lateral edges with engaging pins 211adapted to engage with the hooking members 24. Through engagement of theengaging pins 232, 211 with corresponding hooking members 24, the sidepanel 20 is fixed to the rack 10. When the side panel 20 is assembled totwo vertical posts 11 that are located between two outmost pairs ofvertical posts 11 of the rack 10, the side panel 20 divides the internalspace of the rack 10 into a left and a right smaller space.

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 7-1, the back panel 30 is assembled to the rack10 between two vertical posts 11 at a rear side of the sectional cabinetpreferably by way of hooking. For example, the two rear vertical posts11 are provided at respective side surface facing toward two lateraledges of the back panel 30 with a plurality of hooking opening 113 forhooking members 31 to separately hook thereat. Meanwhile, the back panel30 is provided on an inner side at two lateral edges with flathead pins32 corresponding to the hooking openings 113 and the hooking members 31.Through engagement of the flathead pins 32 with corresponding hookingmembers 31, the back panel 30 is fixed to the rear vertical posts 11 ofthe rack 10.

Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, the door panel 50 is detachably connected tothe vertical post 11 via a door hinge 60. The door hinge 60 is hooked onthe vertical post 11 without the risk of becoming worn when it isdismounted from the vertical post 11 and is therefore more durable foruse. The door hinge 60 includes a fixing member 61 fixed to the doorpanel 50, a hanger 62 hooked on the vertical post 11, an adjustingmember 63 coupled with the hanger 62, and a turning member 64 and aspring 65 mounted between the adjusting member 63 and the fixing member61. The hanger 62 is provided at an inner side with an upper and a lowerhook 621, and at a central area with an outward raised portion 622. Theraised portion 322 has a first end pivotally connected to an end of theadjusting member 63, and a second end opposite to the first end formedinto a recess 623. A screw 625 is threaded through the adjusting member63 to engage with the recess 623 and thereby connects the adjustingmember 63 and the hanger 62 to each other. The hanger 62 is hooked tothe vertical post 11 through engagement of the upper and lower hooks 62with the hook eyes 111 on the vertical post 11. A cushion pad 66 ispositioned between the hanger 62 and the vertical post 11. A screw 624is screwed into the hanger 62 to press against the cushion pad 66, sothat the upper and lower hooks 621 of the hanger 62 are caused totightly hook to the hook eyes 111 on the vertical post 11 and therebyfix the door panel 50 in place. One or more space-dividing boards 51 maybe mounted in a closed space behind the door panel 50 to horizontallydivide the space into two or more smaller spaces.

Referring to FIGS. 10 and 11, the space-dividing board 51 has fourcorners supported on four supporting members 52 hooked on the verticalposts 11. An end of the supporting member 52 has a hook 521 adapted tohook on the hook eye 111 of the vertical post 11, and the other end ofthe supporting member 52 is a laterally extended supporting arm 522, onwhich one corner of the space-dividing board 51 is supported.

Referring to FIG. 12, each of the drawers 40 is slidably mounted on therack 10 via a pair of rails 41, which are preferably connected to thevertical posts 11 by way of hooking. Each of the rails 41 is provided attwo ends with hooking portions 42 adapted to hook to the hook eyes 111of the vertical post 11, such that the rail 41 can be located at anyheight on the vertical posts 11 as desired. The drawer 40 is guided bythe pair of rails 41 to slide into and out of the rack 10. The hookingportion 42 includes an upper retaining hook 421 and a lower retaininghook 422 adapted to extend into two hook eyes 111 of the vertical post11 and be retained thereto. To prevent the rail 41 from loosening fromthe vertical posts 11, a protuberance 423 is provided on each hookingportion 42, as can be seen in FIG. 13. When the rail 41 is properlyconnected to the vertical posts 11, the protuberance 423 at each hookingportion 42 is protruded into the hook eye 111 receiving the lowerretaining hook 422 to abuts against an upper edge of that hook eye 111.

A closed space enclosed in the door panels 50, the horizontal shelves12, the side panels 20, and the back panel 30, and a closed spaceenclosed in each drawer 40 may be used to store various things therein.The positions of the drawers 40, the door panels 50, and the horizontalshelves 12 on the rack 10 may be freely changed to meet different users'requirements.

Skirt boards 17 may be fixedly connected to a lower end of the rack 10,as shown in FIG. 14. To do so, an upper and a lower pin 18 are fixedlyprovided near a lower end of each vertical post 11 on a side surfacefacing toward an adjacent vertical post 11, and two C-shaped resilientbrackets 171 are separately fixed to an inner side of each skirt board17 near two ends thereof, such that two ends of the C-shaped resilientbrackets 171 firmly abut against the upper and the lower pins 18 toconnect the skirt board 17 to the lower end of the rack 10.

With the above arrangements, the sectional cabinet of the presentinvention can be horizontally and vertically extended as desired. A usermay freely divide a large-sized sectional cabinet into two or moresmaller ones, or combine two or more smaller sectional cabinets into alarger one, depending on an actual condition of the space available forthe sectional cabinet. Accordingly, in the event it is desired to movethe cabinet to a different position, the cabinet can be re-assembledaccording to different sizes and configurations of the new position.Therefore, the sectional cabinet is very flexible and convenient foruse.

1. A sectional cabinet, comprising a rack, a plurality of wall panels, aplurality of drawers, and a plurality of door panels; said rack beingformed from a plurality of vertical metal posts, horizontal shelves, andconnecting structures for connecting said vertical metal posts to saidhorizontal shelves, and forming a skeleton of said sectional cabinet;each of said horizontal shelves being connected at four corners to foursaid vertical posts via said connecting structures; said wall panelsincluding a plurality of side panels and back panels; said side panelsbeing fixed to said vertical posts at two lateral sides of said rack,and said back panels being fixed to said vertical posts at a rear sideof said rack; and said door panels and said drawers being selectivelymounted to a front side of said rack to define closed spaces on saidrack.
 2. The sectional cabinet as claimed in claim 1, wherein saidconnecting structure includes a portion adapted to hook on said verticalpost, and another portion adapted to support one corner of saidhorizontal shelf.
 3. The sectional cabinet as claimed in claim 2,wherein said horizontal shelf includes a flat surface panel.
 4. Thesectional cabinet as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said sidepanels is mounted on said rack between two said vertical posts locatedat the same lateral side of said rack, and said side panel including atleast one surface panel and at least one framing member, said at leastone surface panel and said at least one framing member being provided atrespective two lateral ends at predetermined points with engaging pinsadapted to engage with hooking members hooked on said vertical posts, soas to connect said side panel to said vertical posts of said rack. 5.The sectional cabinet as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said backpanels is mounted on said rack between two said vertical posts locatedat a rear side of said rack, said back panel being provided on an innersurface near two lateral edges with flathead pins corresponding to saidhooking members on said two rear vertical posts of said rack, so thatsaid back panel is connected to said rack through engagement of saidflathead pins with said hooking members.
 6. The sectional cabinet asclaimed in claim 1, wherein said door panel is connected to saidvertical post via a door hinge, said door hinge including a hangerhooked on said vertical post and a cushion pad compressibly positionedbetween said hanger and said vertical post.
 7. The sectional cabinet asclaimed in claim 1, wherein each of said drawers is slidably mounted onsaid rack via a pair of rails connected to said vertical posts, each ofsaid rails being provided at two ends with two hooking portions whichare adapted to extend into and hook on said hook eyes on said verticalposts to fix said rail to said vertical posts.
 8. The sectional cabinetas claimed in claim 1, wherein said rack is provided at a lower end witha plurality of skirt boards.
 9. The sectional cabinet as claimed inclaim 8, wherein each of said vertical posts of said rack is fixedlyprovided near a lower end on a side surface facing toward an adjacentvertical post with an upper and a lower pin, and each said skirt boardis fixedly provided on an inner side near two lateral ends with twoC-shaped resilient brackets, such that two ends of said C-shapedresilient brackets firmly abut against said upper and said lower pins onsaid vertical posts to connect said skirt board to the lower end of saidrack.